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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Oak Grove Takes Fight Over Paper Voter Rosters to Minnesota Supreme Court Weeks Before Election
An Anoka County city says Minnesota law allows it to abandon electronic poll books and return to paper, while state and county election officials warn the change could complicate administration of the November election
OAK GROVE, MN (September 9, 2026). A dispute that began with an Anoka County city's decision to return to paper voter rosters reached the Minnesota Supreme Court Tuesday, placing a consequential election-administration question before the state's highest court less than two months before the November general election.
The Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments September 8 in City of Oak Grove v. Steve Simon, case A26-0910, according to the court's official oral-argument record.
At the center of the case is a seemingly straightforward question with potentially broader consequences across Minnesota: when voters are participating in state, federal and countywide elections, who has the legal authority to decide whether polling places use electronic or paper voter rosters?
Oak Grove says the decision belongs to the city.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and Anoka County officials contend that for elections extending beyond a municipality's boundaries, authority over the voter roster rests with the county election official.
Oak Grove has used electronic voter rosters through an agreement with Anoka County since 2018. In 2024, however, the Oak Grove City Council unanimously approved a resolution declaring its intention to return to paper rosters.
The Minnesota Secretary of State's office rejected the proposed change this year, setting up the legal dispute that eventually reached the Supreme Court.
Oak Grove filed its petition in May, asking the court to require state and county election officials to recognize the city's decision.
The city's argument relies heavily on language in Minnesota election law providing that a county, municipality or school district may use electronic voter rosters or paper voter rosters in an election.
Oak Grove maintains that because municipalities operate polling places, hire election judges and perform other local election duties, the statute preserves municipal authority to determine which roster format election judges use at city polling locations.
State and Anoka County officials interpret the law differently.
Assistant Anoka County Attorney Jason Stover argued Tuesday that Oak Grove may have that authority when administering an election confined entirely to the city, but not when administering a statewide election involving voters and offices extending beyond municipal boundaries.
The county's position is that the county's chief election official makes that determination for state, federal and countywide elections.
The justices questioned both the practical consequences and the statutory foundation for the competing interpretations.
Justice Theodora Gaïtas questioned why the Legislature would not have stated more explicitly that the county auditor has final authority if lawmakers intended the county to control the decision in statewide and federal elections.
Chief Justice Natalie Hudson also questioned the state's reliance on uniformity, observing that the statute does not necessarily require every jurisdiction to use the same roster format.
Justice Karl Procaccini similarly questioned whether the statutory language establishes the coordination and uniformity the state and county say it requires.
But another concern before the court involved what would happen operationally if Oak Grove changed systems shortly before the November election.
Anoka County has used electronic poll books since 2018. County officials say they are unaware of security problems involving the system during that period.
Stover told the court that abandoning the electronic roster system would have consequences for absentee voting because county workers would have to manually mark paper rosters to account for approximately 49,000 absentee ballots received before the rosters are sent to polling places.
That concern prompted questions about whether changing systems shortly before the election could produce delays or interfere with voters' ability to cast ballots.
Oak Grove, meanwhile, has cited concerns about electronic-system failures, election security and transparency in explaining its preference for paper rosters.
Those concerns are part of the city's rationale for seeking a return to paper, but they do not by themselves establish that Anoka County's electronic poll books have experienced security failures. County officials have said they are not aware of security-related problems involving the system.
That distinction is important because the Supreme Court is not being asked to determine whether electronic poll books are inherently safer or less safe than paper rosters.
The central legal question is who Minnesota law authorizes to make the choice.
The decision could reach beyond Oak Grove.
If the court concludes municipalities possess independent statutory authority to choose their roster format even for statewide elections, other Minnesota cities could potentially exercise the same authority, depending on the scope of the court's ruling.
If the court accepts the state and county interpretation, county election officials would retain control over the roster system used for elections involving jurisdictions beyond an individual municipality.
Timing adds urgency.
Minnesota's general election is approaching, and election administrators need to prepare voter rosters, absentee-ballot procedures, polling locations, equipment and election workers well before Election Day.
Chief Justice Hudson indicated Tuesday that the court intends to rule shortly because of the time-sensitive nature of the dispute.
Until that decision arrives, Oak Grove's effort to replace the electronic poll books it has used since 2018 with traditional paper rosters remains unresolved.
What began as a local decision by one Anoka County city has therefore become a statewide test of how Minnesota divides election-administration authority among municipalities, counties and the state.
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